Mehta, Damani, Merchant, Alok Kumar, Neeraj Kumar in quarterfinals

Pune, May 7 (UNI) Asian Bronze medalist Yasin Merchant, former Asian snooker champion Ashok Kumar, Asian games bronze medalist Aditya Mehta, upcoming youngsters Neeraj Kumar and Brijesh Damani have entered the last eight stage today of the 2nd Poona Club Limited (PCL) Manisha Open and Invitational Snooker Championship at Poona Club here.

The bespectacled Aditya Mehta stole the day's honours when he scraped past Asian Games double gold medallist Ashok Shandilya 31-68, 117-15, 65-1, 40-71, 56-1, Mehta had an impressive break of 81 in the second frame on his way to a victory.

Pune lad Shivam Arora kept on his splendid run in the tournament accounting for fancied Devendra Joshi and virtually pushing Joshi out of the event, Arora won 17-62, 37-68, 55-10, 75-26, 54-39 in a keen encounter. But Arora could not keep the tempo as he crashed out to Rupesh Shah 66-50, 64-9, and 83-42 in his league encounter.

Yasin Merchant kept up his form accounting for Varun Taneja 60-15, 41-68, 55-56, 76-35, 83-0 in a close contest. Merchant struck right note in the final frame scoring a break of 77.

Central Railways player Neeraj Kumar, who played splendidly in his league encounters, yesterday made it to last eight stage along with international player Alok Kumar who put out Shravan Mota 65-56, 69-49, 16-91 (75), 69-27 in a league encounter.

Following are the results: League Round: (The bracket denotes breaks) Rushabh Padya bt Kamal Chawala 56-40, 88-35, 25-86(48), 67-32, Aditya Mehta bt Ashok Shandilya 31-68, 117(81)-15, 65-1, 40-71, 56-1, Alok Kumar bt Shravan Mota 65-56, 69-49, 16-91(75), 69-27, Rafat Habib bt Sandeep Gulati 68(49)-57, 55-57, 65-22, 30-37, 94(48)-7, Rupesh Shah bt Shivam Arora 66-50, 64-9, 83-42, Brigesh Damani bt Rahul Bagga 75-23, 71-15, 39-66, 76-22, Ashok Shandilya bt Sachin Sancheti 65(64)-1, 70-37, 63-56, Shivam Arora bt Devendra Joshi 17-62, 37-68, 55-10, 75-26, 54-39, Sourav Kothari bt Shravan Mota 65-12, 45-82, 68-25, 61-17, Yasin Merchant bt Varun Taneja 60-15, 41-68, 55-56, 76-35, 83(77)-0.

UNI